Method and apparatus for decorating articles



D. DENELSBECK METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DECORATING ARTICLES OriginalFiled Nov. 17, 1933 Oct. '11, 1938.

4 Sheets-Sheet l 0a. 11, 1938. v D'DENELSBECR 2,132,868-

METHOD AND APPARATUS FJOR DECORATING ARTICLES Original Filed Nov. 17,ess 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 11, 1938. D. DENEILSBECK A 2,132,863

IETHOD AND APPARATUS FQR DECO RATING ARTICLES Original Filed Nqv. 1'7,1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 9p I IIEE" 56 III I:

O :t. 11, 1938. I 0. l DENELSBECK 2,132,863

7 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DECORATING ARTICLES' Original Filed Nov. 17,1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Y Patented Ot'll, 1938 ti e ' UNITE :STATES.Paras-T omen- METHOD AND APPARATUS Foa mucous-1'- mo. An'ncms I DavidDenelsbeck, nununztbn. w. Va.,' assignor to Owens-Illinois Glass tion ofOhio v Company, a corpora- Application November 11, 1933, semi No.898,396 Renewed March 17, 1938 x My invention relates to a method andapparatus for marking, lettering .or decorating the surfaces of variousarticles, and in its preferred form relates particularly to a stenilingmethod of surface marking of ornamentation. An object of the inventionis-to provide a method and broken away to more clearly show theconstruetion. I

-- Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation.

Fig. 5 is a similar view with the parts in a different position.

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the machine. Fig. 'Iisa fragmentarysectional side elevation. Referring to the drawings, the machine is 30,herein shown as designed and adapted for decorating the shoulderportions of bottles.- The machine is mounted on a platform or table I0.

A standard ll bolted to the rear end of the ta-' ble, rises therefrom ina forwardly inclined di- 35 rection and at its upper end is formed withan inclined bearing extension or hub I! in which is journaled a shaft l3carrying at its forward end a chuck I4. The chuck I! may comprise ablock made of rubber orother suitable material re- 40 movably connectedas by means of screws l5 (Fig. '7) to a head or holder IS on the shaftl3.

The chuck I4 is adapted to enter the mouthof a bottle I! for holding androtating the" bottle during the decorating operation, as .hereinafter 45set forth. 3

Rotatably supported on the standard I l above the chuck is a verticalspindle iii to which is attached a stencil carrier in the form of asegmental frame l9, for horizontal oscillation about the 50 axis of thespindle. Beneath the frame is. is a screen frame 20 removably attachedthereto as by means of screws 2|. Attached. to the lower Other objectsof the invention will appear 22 Claims. ((11.101-124 design to beapplied to the bottle II. The stencil may comprise a sheet of imperviousor non-porous material covering or secured to the face of the screen,said sheet having portions cut away to form thedesired design 24. Theframe ll 5 comprises inner and outer frame members 25 and 26,respectively, curved concentric to the shaft l8,"and end members 21-substantially radial to said shaft. The screen frame 20 iscorrespondingly shaped. I I 10 The carrier}! is provided with handles 28for oscillating itbetwee'n the positions shown in full lines and dottedlines, respectively (Fig. 2). The hub 29 of the frame I! and a pulley 30are both mounted on and keyed to the spindle It, so that 1 theyoscillate as a unit. A pulley 3] is keyed o'nthe shaft i3 and is drivenfrom the pulley ill by means of a belt or cable 32 wound on thepulleysill and if and running over idlers 33 carried on bracketsattached to the huh II.

The work piece I'I, here shown as a milk bottle of usual form, comprisesa .cylindrical body portion Il a neck portion and an intermediatetaperedshoulder portion which has a substantially'frusto-conical surface11. when a 5 bottle is placed in position in the machine, the lower endthereof is supported by a yoke 35 which carries a bottom roller 36 gtoengage theunder surface of the bottle, and side rollers 31 which contactwith the sides of the bottle. These 30 rollers are so positioned thatthey hold the bottle in'alignmen't with the shaft ll, that is, with theaxis of the bottle coinciding with the axis of the shaft l3. An endroller 38 bears against the bottom of the bottle and holds itin-engagement 35 with. the chuck ll. The roller 38 is carriedat theupper end of a post 39 mounted to swing about a horizontal pivot 40 andheld in either operative or inoperativeposition by coil springs 4|(Figs. land 3). Thebottle-may be disen- 40 gaged from the chuck by areleasing lever 42 pivoted at 43 to the standard If andcomprising an arm44 or yoke which extends upward into position-to engage the lip of thebottle. The bottle is temporarily supported and guided into position 45,on the chuck by a stationary inclined trough shaped support or guide45.

' surface of the frame 20 is a horizontally disposed fabric 22 which maybe a silk screen of oisual 55 construction carrying a stencil or patternof the The squeegee mechanism for forcing the paint or decoratingmaterial through the silk screen, is supported on a standard 46 boltedto'the table I0. Said standard comprises a horizontally extending arm'llon which a reversing lever 48 is mounted for oscillation'about a pivot49. The lever 48 carries a rearwardly extending arm comprising sections50 and SI connected bya pivot pin 52. 56

' adapted to bear against the screen. said wiper being clamped in aholder 54 which is connected by a pivot pin 55 to a holding plate 56,the latter extending through a slot 51 in the arm 5| and adjustably heldtherein by set screws 58. The

squeegee holder 54 is in an inclined position, as

shown in Fig. 4, while in operation and when the screen reaches the endof its stroke the squeegee is swung to the oppositely inclined position(Fig. 5). This is effected by swinging the re-v versing lever 48 (Fig.3) from the full line to the dotted line position. The throw of thelever is adjustably limited by stop bolts 59 adjustable in lugs 60carried by said lever, 'said stop bolts being positioned to engage thearm 41. Before operating the lever 48 to reverse the inclination of thesqueegee, the latter is swung upward about the pivot pin 52, and istemporarily held in its lifted position by a latch 6| pivoted at :62 toa bracket 63 on the arm 5|, the latch being adapted to engage a pin 64on the arm 50 for holding the squeegee away from the screen, as shown inFig. 7.

Means for limiting the oscillating movements of the screen carrier l9comprise stop bolts 65 adjustably mounted in the upper ends of standards66 and 61. Each of said standards comprises a foot 68 with a slot 69therein through which extends a clamping bolt 10 for clamping thestandard to the platform I0. This slot and bolt connection permitsadditional adjustmentpf the stops 65. Mounted on each end of the framei9 is a stop device H cooperating with the stop bolts 65. This device IIconsists of a lever arm connected to the frame by a pivot 12 andcomprises an upwardly inclined finger piece or extension 13. The purposeof this construction -is set forth hereinafter.

It will be noted that the work piece or bottle I! when in position(Fig. 1) is so inclined that the upper side or uppermost line of thefrustoconical surface l1 extends substantially horizontally, saidsurface being tangent to the horizontal screen and forming a horizontalline of contact therewith, said line, moreover, being in the verticalplane of the axis of the bottle. Stated another way, the vertical planein which lies the axis of the bottle, intersects the conical surface I!in a straight horizontal line which coincides with the line of contactof the screen with said surface. It should be further noted that theaxis of the vertical spindle l8 intersects the axis of the bottle andshaft I3. This point of intersection is located at, or substantially at,the apex oi the cone, of which said surface FF is a frustum.

In other words, if the tapered surface I'lwere extended forward to apoint, said point would be at the intersection of the two axesrepresented by the shafts l3 and I8.

Operation The operation may be described as follows: Assuming the screencarrying frame If! to be in the position shown in full lines in Figs. 2and 3 and the reversing lever 48 thrown to the left, as

With the lower end of the bottle positioned and supported by the rolls36 and 31, the end roll 38 is snapped upward from the dotted to the fullline position (Fig. 1) for holding the bottle securely on the chuck.While the bottle is being placed in position, the squeegee is held up,away from line position (Fig. 1).

the screen, by the latch (Fig. 2). When the bottle is in place. thelatch 6| is released and spindle IE to the dotted line position (Fig.2),-

causing the screen to travel over the frusto-conical surface of thebottle which, during said movement, rotates about its own axis and rollsin contact with the screen.

The pulley 30 which rotates with theframe I9 drives the cord 32 andthereby imparts rotative movement to the chuck I4 for positivelyrotating the bottle IT. The parts are so designed and the pulleys 30 and3| are so proportioned that the surface speed of rotation of the surfaceI! at every point of contact with the screen, is equal to the-speed ofthe screenat said point of contact therewith. During this movement, thesqueegee 53 remains stationary, bearing with a yielding pressure againstthe screen which is sliding therebeneath so that the decorating material.15, for example, a semi-liquid paint, is forced through the sten'cilcdscreen in a well known manner to apply the design 24 to the taperedsurface of the bottle.

The frame l9 arrested at the end of its stroke by the stationary stop 65contacting with the cooperating stop 16 on the frame. The squeegee isnow lifted from the screen and held by the latch 5| (Fig. 7), and thebottle withdrawn. By depressing the lever 42 the bottle is forcedendwise off the chuck. The cndwisemovement of the bottle serves to throwthe roll 38 downward to the dotted line position. Another bottle is nowplaced in position to bedecoratc-d in like manner, during the returnmovement of the carrier l9 to the full But before this return movement,the squeegee is reversed by swinging the reversing lever to the dottedline position (Fig. 3) while the squeegee is still held up by the latch6!. Also, before releasing the latch 6!, the stop H may be lifted out ofengagement with the stop bolt 65 by depressing the finger piece 13 andthe screen frame given an additional final movement, thereby carryingthe squeegee or wiper 53 over the coloring material which has been piledup in front of it so that it will again be in advance of the wiperduring the return movement of the, frame Modifications'may be resortedto within the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. The method of decorating the surface of a cone which comprisescausing rolling contact of said surf ace a fiat stencil screen byrotating said surface about its axis and simultaneously causing. amovement of the screen relative to the cone about an axis intersectingthe axis of the cone at its apex.

2. The method of stenciling a frusto-conical surface of a cone whichcomprises rotating said surface about its axis, moving a flat stencilscreen while tangent to said surface, about an axis perpendicular to thescreen and intersecting the said first mentioned axis'at the apex of thecone with the screen in rolling contact with said surface, and applyinga coating material through the screen to said surface as the latteradvances in contact with the screen.

3. In apparatus for stenciling an article having ing it about the axisof said surface, a flat stencil screen, meansto maintain said'screen intangential contact with said surface'while the latter rotates, and meansfor causing a relative advance movement of saidarticle and screen withthe screen and said surface advancing at the same surface speed at allpoints 'along the line.'of contact. r

4; A machine for decorating articles compris tion of means for support nthe article and rotat-' ing, in combination, holding means for thearticle,

means for rotating'said article bout an axis, a stencil device, andmeans for osci ating said sten-' cil about an-axis inclined tosaid'first mentioned axis.

, 5. A machine for decorating the surface of an article comprising meansfor rotating the article aboutan axis, the partof said surfaceto whichthe decoration is applied having portions at different distances fromsaid axis and thereby moving at different speedsduring said rotation, aflat pattern, and means for causing said pattern to advance bodily inits own plane along said surface I in rolling contact therewith duringsaid rotation, withsaid surface and pattern advancing at the same speedat each point of contact.

6. A machine for decorating the surface of an article comprising meansfor holding the article, means for rotating it about an axis, a screenframe, a screen carried thereby. means for oscillating said frame aboutan axis with the screen in rolling contact with said surface, and meansto apply decorating material through the screen to said surface.

'7. Amachine for decorating the surface or an article comprising meansfor holding the article, means for rotating it about an axis, a screenframe. a flat screen carried thereby, means for oscillating said frameabout an axis with the screen moving in its own plane in rollingcontact,

screen carried thereby above and tangent to said surface, means .foroscillating said "screen in.

face speed as the s'aidconical surface at all points of contacttherewith. 12; A machine for decorating articles comprising aflchuck forholding one end of the article, means for supportingthe opposite end ofthe article, means for rotating the chuck and thereby rotating thearticle, a screen frame, means for oscillating said frame, and drivingconnections betweeri said frame and said chuck.

13. A machine for decorating bottles comprising 'a holding device forengaging one end of the bottle *andholding it in an inclined position,means for supporting the opposite end of the bottle, rneans for.rotating said holding. device about the inclined axis of the bottle andthereby imparting rotative movement to the bottle; a screen frame andscreen positioned above the bottle, means for reciprocating said frameduring -/'the r'otation of the bottle with the screen horizontal and incon tactmitha surface 'of the bottle with said surface, and means toapply decorating material through the screen to said surface.

8. A machine for decorating the surface of an article comprising meansfor holding the article, means for rotating it about an axis, a screenframe.'a flat screen carried thereby, means for oscillating said frameabout an axis with 'the screen movingin its own plane in rolling contactwith said surface, and means to ap ly decorating material through thescreen to said surface. said last mentioned means including a squeegeeor wiper held against the screen at the points of contact between thescreen and said surface.

9. A decorating machine comprising means to hold an article, means forrotating it about an inclined axis, a screen frame. a screen carriedthereby, and means for oscillating .said frame about a vertical axis,with the screen in rolling contact with the said article.

10. A machine for'decorating an article having a conical surface whichcomprises means for holding the article with the axis of said surfaceinclined, means for rotating the article about said axis, a horizontallydisposed screen frame, a

screen carried thereby above and tangent to said surface, and means foroscillating said screen in rolling contact with said surface during saidrotation of the article.

11. A machine for decorating an article having a conical surface whichcomprises means for holding the article with the axis of said surfaceinclined, means for rotating the article about said to be decorated, andmeans for applying a decorating material through the screen to saidsurface.

14 The method of stenciling a substantially conical or frusto-coni'calsurface which comprises advancing said surface along the fiat face of astencil having a line of contact therewith, by a combined rotativemovement of the conical surface about its axis and a simultaneousmovement screen is advanced-at substantially thesame surof the stencilface in its own plane and with the speed of said movements equal at eachpoint of contact between said surface and stencil face, and applying adecorating material to the conical surface as it rolls in contact withthe stencil.

15. A machine for decorating the conical surface of an article,comprising means for holding the article, means for rotating it aboutthe axis of said surface, a stencil screen tangent to and in contactwith said surface, and means for im parting an angular movement tothescreen in its plane of tangency during said rotation, whereby thearticle is caused to roll along the screen as it rotates, said movementof the screen and rotation of the article being coordinated to preventslipping or sliding movement between said surface and screen.

16. A machine for decorating the conical surface of 'an article,comprising means for holding the article, means for rotating it aboutthe axis of said surface, a'stencil screentangent to and in contact withsaid surface, means for imparting an angular movement to the screen inits plane of tangency during said rotation, whereby the article iscaused to roll along the screen as it rotates,

. said movement of the screen and rotation of the article beingcoordinated to prevent slipping or sliding movement between said surfaceand screen, a squeegee, and means for holding said squeegee in contactwith the screen and in a fixed position relative to the said axis ofrotation during the said rolling movement of said surface.

17. The method of stenciling a conical orfrustoconical surface whichcomprises rotating said surface about its axis, maintaining a line ofrolling contact between said surface and a stencil during saidrotation,causing the stencil to advance relative to said, surface in a planetangent thereto with each point in said line advancing along the stencilat the speed of rotation of said surface at said point, andconcomitantly applying a decorating or coating material through thestencil to said surface. I

18. A machine for decoratingan article having a frusto-conical surface,comprising means'for holding the article, 'means for rotating it, aboutthe axis of said surface, means for holding a pattern lying in a plane,means for maintaining rolling contact of said surface with the patterndur-- ing said rotation, and means for imparting angular movement to thepattern as a whole relative to said axis and in the said plane-of thepattern during said rotation, said relative movement being in adirection and at a speed to prevent sliding movement or slipping betweensaid surface and pattern.

surface about its axis in rollingcontact with a stencil, causing thestencil as a whole to advance relative to said surface and during saidadvancement causing each point of contact of the stencil with saidsurface to advance over said surface at a speed proportional to itsdistance from said axis and progressively applying a decorating orcoating materialthrough the stencil to said surface during saidrotation.

21. The method of stenciling a conical or frusto conical surface whichcomprises rotating said surface about its axis, maintaining a'line ofrollingconta'ct between said surface and a stencil during said rotation,causing the stencil to advance relative to said surface with each pointin said line advancing along the stencil at the speed of rotation ofsaid surface at said point, and con comitantly applying a decorating orcoating material through the stencil to said surface.

22. The method of stenciling a conical or frusto-conical-surface whichcomprises rotating said surface about its axis, maintaining a line ofrolling contact between said surface and a stencil during said rotation,causing relative movement betweeen the stencil and said surface witheach point in said line of rolling contact changing at the speed ofrotation of said surface at said point, and concomitantly applying adecorating or coatmaterial through the stencil to said surface.

DAVID DENELSBECK.

